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Need advice on a video card

sammytexas

Posted 01 October 2006 - 10:58 AM

sammytexas

Member

Member

25 posts

I am thinking about getting a video card but don't know anything about them. Right now my pc has a S3 Graphics ProSavage DDR. I found a ati radeon 9200 128mb for $20 and was wondering if it would be worth it. I'm sure you will need some more info on my pc so just email me what you need and I will check it out. Thanks

Posted 01 October 2006 - 02:17 PM

sammytexas

Posted 01 October 2006 - 06:59 PM

sammytexas

Member

Topic Starter

Member

25 posts

I really don't play any games, although I just came across Bowmaster and am addicted to it. I was just thinking that it would help out watching video, alot of videos tend to bog down my pc and play choppy. I also thought it may help with captureing video too. I have Dazzle and have been trying to capture some of my old tapes that are on HI8 but the quality is crap. Here are the specs you asked for, let me know if you need anything else.

Facedown98

Posted 02 October 2006 - 09:58 AM

Facedown98

Trusted Tech

Technician

2,989 posts

If you won't be doing any heavy gaming, etc. then that card sounds fine to me. Just make sure that your new card supports the game before you buy and everything. What card do you have now? Or is it on-board?

sammytexas

Posted 02 October 2006 - 10:00 AM

Facedown98

Posted 02 October 2006 - 10:09 AM

Facedown98

Trusted Tech

Technician

2,989 posts

Ok. No wonder. On board is as basic as you can get. It doesn't provide really any gaming support, they just make it so that you can see the windows graphics, and to keep cost down. This card will help you a lot. 128 MB isn't bad either, so it should play the game no problem, as long as the game doesn't require anything more.

Posted 02 October 2006 - 10:30 AM

Facedown98

Posted 02 October 2006 - 11:08 AM

Facedown98

Trusted Tech

Technician

2,989 posts

Yes, that should work, as long as you have available AGP slots. Do you know if you have them? You either have AGP or PCI/PCI-E compatible on the motherboard. If you're not sure, I can try to research it for you, I just need your system manufacturer and system model.

Now, one problem. Unless someone else (who knows more about the situation than I) can prove me wrong, then this card might not be compatible... It looks like your AGP slot speed only supports 4X... This card might be a bit faster... I'm going to have to research it... We'll want to check this out before buying.

It's an 8X card... I'm pretty sure that faster cards will adjust speeds, but I'll have to research that as well, becuase I don't want to see you have any problems... I'll get back with you on it. Oh also, Mad Dog and ATI appear to be the same in this case.

-------------------------(Edit)-------------------------------------------Whoops... Upon further investigation, it says right there in the description that the card is:

AGP 8X (Backward Compatible to 4X)

It looks safe to use I'm sure we'll be getting more replies, becuase I just asked a few other members/staff for help lol Now, I think you're all set, unless I'm forgetting anything... Anyone?

Posted 02 October 2006 - 12:09 PM

Facedown98

Posted 02 October 2006 - 12:15 PM

Facedown98

Trusted Tech

Technician

2,989 posts

Well it says on that CompUSA link which I gave you that it's a mad Dog card and not ATI, however, from my understanding, Mad Dog is a part of the model. ATI is still the manufacturer, but instead of it being an ATI Radeon 9550, they made it an ATI Mad Dog Multimedia Dominator Radeon 9550. it's just a different name I suppose. If these two cards look the same to you then it looks safe to go for

sammytexas

Posted 02 October 2006 - 12:24 PM

jrm20

Posted 02 October 2006 - 12:38 PM

jrm20

System building expert

Retired Staff

2,394 posts

The video card will work on your machine.. To teach you something pci express wasnt available on any of the older motherboards with amd chips such as AMD Athlon 1800+ which is your processor.. They are called a socket A processor... No socket A motherboards have pci express because pci express wasnt even invented yet.